2022 Port & Douro Vintage

Quinta do Bomfim in the heart of the Douro recorded just 170mm of rain between November 2021 and August 2022, 70 percent below the 30-year average. The region entered severe drought at the end of June. Symington had a 15-day heatwave in July with nine days above 40C, and two more heatwaves in August. Pinhao recorded 47C in mid-July, the highest temperature ever recorded in Portugal. Christian Seely of Quinta do Noval told Decanter that temperatures hit 45.5C in mid-July and stayed above 40C for prolonged periods in August. Symington's bunches and berries came in smaller than usual. Symington started picking in the Douro Superior on 22 August, its earliest start ever in the Douro, and in the Cima Corgo on 29 August. In the first week of September, Symington's own harvest report put average daytime temperatures at between 22C and 25C, and Symington paused picking on 9 September for 10 days, its longest pause ever. Between 30 and 42mm of rain fell across Symington's properties from 12 to 15 September, and Symington restarted picking on the 19th. Symington's yields per vine finished 20 percent below average, much better than it had anticipated in August.

Symington's August maturation studies showed low sugar and acidity because of the drought, but phenolic ripeness was advanced. Symington began in the Douro Superior with Graham's Vale de Malhadas, Cockburn's Quinta dos Canais and Dow's Senhora da Ribeira, then moved to Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos, Dow's Quinta do Bomfim and Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha in the Cima Corgo. Foot-treading in the granite lagares at Quinta do Vesuvio began on 29 August, the first time treading had started in August in the history of a winery that dates back to 1827. Symington has 131 hectares of very old vines across its estates, and they were much less affected than its younger vineyards. Symington picked half of its Touriga Nacional from 5 to 11 September, with deep colour and moderate Baumes of 12 to 13. Symington's Touriga Franca in the Cima Corgo delivered well-ripened fruit with excellent colour, while its Douro Superior fruit was more inconsistent.

• 22 August: first picking, Douro Superior; 29 August: Cima Corgo estates and treading at Quinta do Vesuvio
• Very old vines were much less affected than Symington's younger vineyards
• Symington's white grapes: production 8 percent below 2021, with sugar and acidity near ideal
• Symington's Touriga Franca: well ripened in the Cima Corgo, more inconsistent in its Douro Superior fruit

Vintage Ports are declared two years after the harvest, traditionally on St George's Day, 23 April, or in the weeks that follow. Decanter's report on the declarations was headlined "Leading producers declare 2022 Vintage Ports". Quinta do Noval declared three Vintage Ports. The Sogevinus Group declared four from across its estates, and master blender Carlos Alves said, "we decided to declare a vintage for all four Quintas." The Fladgate Partnership announced limited bottlings of Fonseca Guimaraens and Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas. Fladgate's head winemaker David Guimaraens told The Buyer that 2022 lacked the structure for Fladgate to declare a classic, and The Buyer lists these with the new Taylor's Sentinels as Fladgate's 2022 single quinta ports. Sogrape announced Vintage 2022 for its three Port houses, Porto Ferreira, Sandeman and Offley.

• Quinta do Noval: Quinta do Noval, Quinta do Noval Nacional and Quinta do Passadouro 2022
• Sogevinus: Kopke Quinta de Sao Luiz, Burmester Quinta do Arnozelo, Calem and Barros 2022
• Fladgate: Fonseca Guimaraens, a blend of three Fonseca quintas; Taylor's Vargellas; Taylor's Sentinels, a first release from Taylor's properties in and around the Pinhao Valley
• Sogrape: Sandeman Quinta do Seixo, Porto Ferreira Quinta do Porto and Offley Vintage 2022

Decanter's Ines Salpico wrote that the harvest brought in healthy, small berries with "remarkable flavour definition and a surprising freshness", and that the 2022 bottlings show "an incredible sense of place, notable aromatic nuance and refined tannic frameworks." She singled out Quinta do Noval's Nacional, the fifth edition of Capela do Vesuvio and the first release of Taylor's Sentinels. Decanter's 2024 report said the small berries gave a good juice to skin ratio that contributed directly to the quality of the wines. Charles Symington wrote that his best wines had lifted aromas with good colour. Christian Seely told Decanter: "Such extremes are not entirely unprecedented: similar conditions were experienced in the great vintages of 2017 and 1945."

• Healthy, small berries with flavour definition and surprising freshness
• Nacional: depth and concentration offset by mineral precision
• Guimaraens said the Vargellas crop was one of the healthiest Fladgate had seen for years